Once Upon a Time season 6 episode 17 review: A proposal; are Snow, Charming back?

While Once Upon a Time season 6 episode 17 proved to be an important hour of television, it was all where there was a lot going on. Was it too much? There is an important battle to be had there, but from our vantage point, we would say that the story here perhaps became a little too cluttered, perhaps far more so than it needed to be.

The narrative that excited us the most was the one featuring Emma in the present, largely because her efforts were starting to build towards the final battle. She ran into the Black Fairy, and in an effort to bring Snow and Charming awake at the same time faced a great deal of danger.

Snow and Charming, meanwhile, were almost in stasis as Regina’s efforts to stop the curse on them put them in a further life-or-death crisis. There was only so much time to save the two of them before they were gone for good, and in the interim, the two were put within an alternate timeline where they were years in the past, after the curse was instituted but long before they were awakened by Emma. Through this story, the two had to learn, metaphorically, to let sleeping dogs lie. While it would have been lovely for them to see her daughter grow up, there was no way in which to properly do that and also keep the rest of Storybrooke intact.

In the end, these two decided that they were better off knowing that someday, Emma would indeed find them … and they would find their way back together. Therefore, the timeline remains the same, and that includes nothing being changed in the present.

The search for Captain Hook

If you recall, the pirate was in Neverland at the end of this past episode, and while there this time, he ran into another character in Tiger Lily who was in a state of torment. This storyline was fun from the standpoint of revisiting this history, but it was also short-lived. Eventually, Snow and Charming decided to sacrifice their own lives in order to better ensure that Hook would be able to make his way back. They were able to make a portal back for him to Storybrooke, and from there Hook sincerely proposed. This time, she said yes! The ring is back on the finger.

The aftermath of this moment meant that Hook and Emma were together, and the next order of business was seeing how to bring Snow and Charming back. Regina had a plan, and it involved much of the city of Storybrooke sacrificing themselves to the sleeping curse in order to bring them back. Snow and Charming made a sacrifice many years ago, and they were willing to make one back. Luckily, though, they diluted the curse enough so that nobody stayed asleep.

Overall

This was a powerful episode about sacrifice, and the lengths that people are willing to go for love. Tonight, what we saw was a town rallying around Snow and Charming.

In the closing minutes, we also saw another cliffhanger as Rumple promised to take down the Black Fairy once and for all. All of a sudden, he’s willing to make a sacrifice for his son. Grade: B.

Next time on Once Upon a Time

If you’re interested in get some further news regarding what is coming up next on the ABC drama, be sure to head over to the link here. (Photo: ABC.)